Mercury-motor meter.



R. G. LANPHIER 6: 0. WHITE.

MERCURY MOTOR METER. APPLICATION FILED AUG. 20, 1908- 911,020. Patented Jan. 26, 1909.

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R. G. LANPHIER. & 0. WHITE. MEBUURY MOTOR METEKi rum-non FILED AUG. 20, 1908.

91 1,020. Patented Jan ze, 1909.

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if Q11 i 137 35 v a 40 M 4 ,7 6 46 47 44 o lNllWliilH 1 mar i u ul g in order to bring UNITED sTAtrrs PALIENT OFFICE.

ROBERTO. LANPHIER AND OTIS WHITE, OF SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNORS TO SANGAMO ELECTRIC COMPANY, OF SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION .OF ILLINOIS,

MERCURY-MOTOR METER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 26, 1909.

Application filed August 20, 1908. Serial No. 449,487.

To all whom itmay concern: Be itknown that we, ROBERT C. LANPHIER and 011s WHITE, citizens of the United States, residin at Sprin eld, in the county 5- of Sangamon, tate of II mois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mercury-Motor Meters, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.- Our invention relates to improvements in meters. of the mercury motor type and its princi al object is to supply a new and improve armature casing and energizingmagnot support formeters of this type, and our inventlon, while particularly adapted" for :an alternating current mercury motor meter of the type and method of operation shown in Letters Patent to said Lanphier, No. 843,155, isalso-adapted for use in direct our; 0 rent mercury motor meters. Heretofore in mercury motor metersithad been customary to form the armature casin in which the armature chamber is formed 0% two parts, formedof pressed orfzpolded me;- teria the top piece carryingmolded therein a soft steel return plate for the magneticfield derived from the field magnet below the armature, and 'havin the u per-portionof the same'piece-forme into a opper-oro en- 3 ing into which mercury is poured for in the chamber the opening being (revere with'a'suitable metal ca and provided with a jewel and so arranged as to prevent the s 1 lling.of.the mercury. vThehottom part of the cas has also been formed of a pressed or mol'd material in'which have been embedded aminated pole-pieces which pass through'the bottom portion into the armature chamber the magnetic field close to the armature; he cop er contacts forearryingthe current to an from the armature have also been molded in one or the othcr,- usually in the bottom one, of said molded 5 parts and thetwo portions have been-held together by suitable screws passing through one part and entering metal screw t'hreaded bushings molded in the other part. The two 4 parts forming the casing have been 'so shaped that when put together a shallow circular chamber for the armature is formed. This construction has involved some difficulties, particularl in making a mercu -tight joint etween t e two pieces. liurt ermore, on'

' rate yoke to carry t 1 across the armature.

current meter, therefore,

.piece of insulating non-ma etic -'-account of the inevitable variation in thes s-.1

act position of the pole-pieces, arising from their being molded into t e lower member of the casing, and the variation in the exact diameters of the upper and lower molded pieces where they t together, it has been diflicult to get an absolutely accurate alinement between the two pieces. This rendered it also. difiicult to get an exact alinement of theupper and lower jewel bearin for the armature spindle, which of course is necessary for perfect operation 'of the meter. Furthermore, in such meters, the use of the two pole pieces molded into the lower member of thearmatureca has neeessitatedasepafie coil of the field magnet. While this produces no difliculty m meters-of the direct current type difiiculties arise with an alternating current meter, owing to the necessary breaks between the yoke and thevpole pieces.

. Inan alternating current meter of the t pe referred to above, the. magnetizing coil is formed of somewhat heavy copper wire connected in series with the load, and the turns of this coil are relatively fewer in number than in a meter of the direct current type, in .Which'the 'ener izing coil is composed of alarge number 0 turnsof fine wire connected across the circuit, the load current passing- In the alternating the field magnet structure has to operatefrom-nero magnetie. zation up to=the=maximum produced by the series winding, and the presence of air-gaps and bends in the laminated magnet causes an error or falling off in the curve at light loads or at low values of the magnetizing current. Moreover, in the form of core. struction above referred to, having both the upper and lower parts of the armature casing formed of pressed or molded insulating material, the armature chamber was ract'ically insulated at all parts from outsid e air by a com osition WhlOll was a very poor. heat u con uctor, thus preventiu .the escape into the air of heat caused by t cheating of the armature due to current passing through it, causing'rthe armature 1 and mercury in the chamber to -become more readily heated and interiering-withthe accuracy of the meter.

The ob ect of our invention is to rovidea construction which will do away Wit these difliculties, which will eliminate the necessity for such air-gaps in the series magnet of ,the alternating current n etenand by allow- 11o bottom with res ect to the molded top piece and also to dowe the entire motor element,- that is to say, the mercury chamber with armature and mercury,to the base of the meter. Moreover, while, as we have said above, our im roved construction is particularly adapts for an alternating current meter, it is also without any change adapted to readily receive a magnet of the old type ,consisting of a yoke carrying the energizing coil and two pole pieces secured thereto. The construction of the armature casing is therefore interchangeable, so far as .the motor element is concerned, in the direct current and the alternating current meters.

In the accompanying. drawings:Figure 1 is an elevation, showing the armature casing in vertical section. Fig. 2 is a section. on line 22 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a detail, bein an isometric View of one of the magnetolding clips. Fig. 4 is a detail, showing a portion of the magnet broken away and with the coil removed. Fig. 5 is an elevation, showing the armature casing with the ordinary direct current energizin m at mounted therein. Fig. 6 is an end view of the parts shown in Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is an isometric view of the binding ring by which the metallic bottom of the chamber is secured to the upper molded portion of the casing, seen from below. Fig. 8 is a detail, being an isometric view of one of the pole pieces of the magnet used for direct current meters.

Referring to the drawings :-9 indicates theupper member of the armature casing formed of molded or pressed insulatin material and having embedded and .moldex in it a return plate 10 which is inthe form of a rin of soft iron or steel.

11 indicates copper contacts which are molded in the 11 per member 9 and adapted to be connecte either to the secondary of a low potential transformer in an alternating current meter of the type shown in the Letters Patent above referred to, or to the load circuit of a direct current meter.

The member 9 is provided with a circular recess 12, which, v hen closed in by the bottom above described, forms a .mercury chamber adapted to contain the armature 13. The mercury chamber 12 opens centrally into a passage 14 adapted to receive a. float 15 of the armature which opens up into a chamber 16.

17 indicates a plate which closes the top of the chamber 16 and is provided with a sleeve 18 extendin Y into the chamber 16 and provided at its bottom with a jewel beai'in 19.

20 indicates an armature spindle o the usual form which is 'ournaled in the jewel bearing 19 and in a suitable hearing, as 21, in the bottom plate hereinafter described.

22 indicates a brake disk secured to the spindle 20, and 23 indicates permanent magnets which operate to brake the disk 22.

It will of course be understood. that the spindle is connected with a suitable time train, which forms no part of our present invention and which, for clearness of illustration, is omitted from the drawings.

24 indicates a circular plate of the same diameter as the upper member 9 and which is pressed into suitable shape which when secured to the bottom of the upper member 9 as hereinafter described forms a bottom therefor and closes in the mercury chamber and supports the bearing 21 for the spindle 20. The late 24 is formed of thin non-magnetic meta and when used for an alternating current meter is formed of resistance metal in order to diminish the effect of eddy currents.

25 indicates a metallic ring of non-magnetic material,preferably brass,whose periphery is of the same shape as the eriphcry of the plate 24. The ring 25 (see ig. 7) is provided with a pair of diametrically-o posed grooves 26 preferably formed by stri mg up parallel projections 27 from the under surface of the ring and adapted to receive the clips hereinafter described. The upper casing 9, the plate 24, and ring 25 are provided with a plurality of registerin openings adapted to receive bushings for the screws hereinafter described.

28 indicates cli s of a shape best shown in Fig. 3. These 0 'ps are provided with a body portion 29, and projecting lugs u on the end. The body portion 29 is adapte to fit closely within the grooves 26 and rest snugly therein and is provided with a screwthreaded opening 31. The lugs 30 project so as to straddle the ends of the magnet, and the end of the clip 32, lying between the lugs 30, is adapted to enter a suitable notch near the pole of the magnet hereinafter described.

33 indicates a laminated magnet formed of soft steel plates and of a U-shape.

34 indicates energizing coils upon the magnet adapted to be connected to the load circuit of an alternating current meter of the type described in the above-mentioned Letters Patent. pole ends of the U-shaped magnet 33. Near the top of each pole piece of the magnet is provided a transverse groove 35 adapted to receive the end 32 of the clip 28.

36 indicates bushings which pass through suitable openings in the upper member 9, plate24, and ring 25, and support screws 37 These coils are slid upon thewhich are bent at rig .45

by suitable clips 46 and which enter screw-threaded openings 26 in the ring 25. Other openings in the ring 25 are screw-threaded to receive other screws which pass throu h the parts in the same manner so as to bind tightly to ether the I up or member 9, the plate 24 and the ring 25. hese parts being suitably fastened together with the armature in position, the clips 28 are placed with their ends 32 in the notches 35 o the magnet 33 into which they closely fit. The body portions of the clips are then located in the grooves 26 of the ring- 25, and, by means of the screws 37, the clips 28 and the magnet 33 are tightly secured in position below the mercury casing with the poles of the magnet close below the plate 24.

The plate 24 being formed of metal, as above stated, will easily radiate the heat caused by the passage of the current throu h the armature eham )er, thus permitting t e heat to escape and permitting the passage across the armature of a volume of current derived from the step-down secondary of a low potential transformer in the manner described in said Letters Patent larger than what would be permitted without causing a temperature error if the casing were formed of non-heat-oonducting molded material as above described. It will be obvious, also, that by means of suitable shown) and of the ordinary construction and operation, the several parts may be accurately adjusted together in pro r alinement and ready to be fastened togethzr by screws as above describe By the removal of the clips, it will be obvious that the same casing as above described may be used for a direct current meter having an energizing magnet of the original type. This will be seen by a reference to Figs. 5, 6 and 8. In these figures, 4O indicates pole pieces which are preferably laminated and formed of lates of soft metal and t angles with slightly rojecting poles 41 and having a plane sur' ace 42 ada ted to fit into the recess 26 of the ring 25 and secured thereto by the screws 37 passing into screw-threaded openings'43. 44 indicates a yoke upon which 18 mounted the energizing coil 45 formed. of a large number ofturns of fine wire and adapted to be connected across the circuit in the ordinary manner in direct current meters of this type. The yoke 44 is secured to the pole pieces 40 screws 47. It is obvious from the above description that in case it is desired to use the m'ercu'ry casing above described for a direct current meter, the clips 28 are not used and therefore an energizing magnet of ordinary construction consisting of two pole pieces and a. yoke upon which the energiz ng coil is mounted may be mounted dowel pins (not upon the meter without in any way changing the armature-casing.

What we claim as our invention and desire secure by Letters Patent is 1. In a mercury motor meter, an armature casing composed of an upper member of insulating material having a circular recess adapted to receive an armature, a lower member composed of a thin plate of nonmagnetic material, a clamping ring, and means for clamping said upper member said lower member and said clamping ring firmly together. 7

2. In a-mercury motor meter, the combination with an armature chamberconsistin of an n per member of insulatin material recesse to form an armature cham er, and a lower member composed of a plate of thin non-magnetic material, of a return plate molded in said upper member, a clamping ring, means for clamping said lower member between said clamping ring and said upper member, an energizing magnet, and means carried b said clam ing ring and ada ted to removab y support t 1e magnet there mm.

In a mercury motor meter, the combination with an armature chamber consisting of an u per member of insulatin material recesse to form an armature cham er, and a lower member composed of a plate of thin non-magnetic material, of a return plate molded in said upper member, a clamping ring of non-magnetic metal adapted to clamp said upper and lower members to ether grooves on said clamping ring, clips adapted to enter said grooves screws adapted to secure said clips insai grooves, and an energizing magnet adapted to be em'gaged by said clips and supported thereby.

In a mercury motor meter, the combination with an armature chamber consistin of an upper member of insulating materi recesse to form an armature chamber, and a lower member composed of a plate of thin non-magnetic material, of a return plate molded in said upper member, a clamping ring of non-magnetic metal adapted to clamp said upper and lower members together grooves on said clamping ring, a U-shaped energizing magnet provided with slots on the outer surfaces of its poles, cli s adapted to enter said slots and embrace to e sides of the magnet and having a body portion adapted to fit the groovesinsaid clamping ring, and screws adapted to engage sair clips and removably secure the same in said grooves.

ROBERT C. LANPHIER. OTIS WHITE.

Witnesses:

J. H. Home, 3 F. W. MORGAN. l 

